Hi-5: Magical Treasures (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Main Menu Audio & Animation Music Highlights-Songs Of The Week (3) Karaoke-3 Songs Storybook-Sharing Stories (2) Trailer-Previews Of Hi-5 Videos And DVD's
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	55:08
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$24.95	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (320Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.75:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired English Song Lyrics	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Hi-5 is a children's television show produced in Australia and has been showing on the Nine Network since January 1999. The show is hosted by a group of five, mid-twenties presenters; Charli, Kelli, Kathleen, Nathan & Tim. The television show consists of songs, performed either by the group or by individual members, stories, animation, on location visits such as animal farms, puzzles and some activity segments.

    This particular DVD features all of the above in 20 segments which run for approximately 55 minutes. It was previously released on video in 2002. The theme of this disc is magic and imaginary lands. It includes segments about the pyramids, fairies, magical creatures, giants, cowboys and other such imaginary creatures or situations. There are (as usual) three songs performed by the entire group. This time they are Let's Pretend, Opposites & Buried Treasure to go along with the magical theme.

   The program is light, friendly, colourful and moves quickly from topic to topic to avoid losing its audience. My test audience (my 18 month old son) was happily bopping along and seemed to be enjoying himself. He especially responded to a story about Captain Puffy Pants and his pirate ship.

    The music is very catchy and the studio audience obviously know all the words and actions. To my ears, the songs are a bit samey but I'm sure the kids don't care.

    If your children are fans of Hi-5, this disc will hit the spot.

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.75:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise.

    The colour was very good throughout with all colours being vibrant and well saturated, with only the merest hint of colour bleeding.

    There was some minor aliasing and some jagged edges especially during outdoor scenes.

    There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired which were clear, easy to read and exact to the spoken word.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is good, but very front and centre focussed.

    This DVD contains only one audio option: a Dolby Digital 2.0 surround soundtrack encoded at 320 Kb/s despite an additional Dolby Digital 5.1 track being listed on the box.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand.    

    There were no problems with audio sync, although some songs were fairly obviously lip synched.    

    The music by Chris Harriott is very catchy but slightly samey.

    The surround speakers were used to add atmosphere.

    The subwoofer was not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu includes the ability to repeat the program forever, choose specific songs or stories or choose the songs sung by particular performers. Each performer's songs can also be repeated forever. To my mind the menu system is a bit fiddly for the kids to use themselves.

Trailers

    Advertisements (including the stores where you can buy them) are included for approximately 10 other Hi-5 titles.

Karaoke

    This option allows for the three main songs from the program to be played (on endless repeat if desired) with or without the singing and with the lyrics printed on the screen for singing along.

    This disc does not seem to be available outside of Region 4.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The disc has a karaoke feature as the only extra of note.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall